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Listening to the founder, Carmen Villanueva, a nurse, it was divine intervention. Divine, not only because she believes in a cause, but because it moved her heart, mind and soul to do something for them. Since the beginning, the Home provides services 24 hours a day, seven days a week, free of charge. We also provide day care services and also “Meals on Wheels” which program was closed by the local government. We started out serving our town, and then we end up serving the Western area of the Island. Now we receive calls from any place in Puerto Rico. For example, San Juan, the capital, 80 miles East, we receive referrals through the Rio Piedras Medical Center.

Most mental health projects and services are based on the premise that service users and experts/professionals are two separate groups of people. Our project started with the understanding that most people with direct experience of mental health problems are also experts/professionals in a whole range of different areas of professional life. With this in mind, we set out to recruit an expert group with the range of skills required to develop and deliver a self management programme for people affected by depression, all of whom also have direct personal experience of depression.

Our approach to delivery is also designed to overcome the "them and us" division in which people with mental health problems are viewed as "the problem", while experts/professionals who lack direct experience are viewed as "the solution" - a situation that has resulted in extreme shortages in services. Our approach involves training the person with mental health problems not only to promote their own recovery, but also to become a resource within their community either as a Depression Busting Trainer delivering future courses; a support group leader; or simply by attending groups and using their experience and knowledge to help others find their route to recovery.

There are several aspects of New Futures Initiative that are innovative and unique:

1. Our commitment to expand the Initiative through training other family groups and agencies to replicate CIF’s proven models for developing community living options.
2. A flexible and creative workshop design that provides a framework for learning and action that can be tailored to meet each group’s unique needs.
3. A non-traditional model based on identifying and maximizing the assets and resources of a community and the diverse gifts of its residents and organizations.
4. A perspective of inclusion for individuals of all abilities, based on the understanding that each individual has unique gifts that complement and enrich a community.
5. A funding design that encourages multiple stakeholders, rather than sole reliance on government dollars, as a way to enhance sustainability and prevent control by one sole funder.
6. A holistic person-centered approach to supporting an individual in residency based on eight aspects of a full life: Citizenship, Life Long Learning, Wellness, Connections, Earning My Way, Getting Around, My Place, Fun & Talents.

FacingUs.org is an interactive community that provides a safe haven for those living with mood disorders and offers inspiration and encouragement to anyone seeking personal wellness. Its innovation can be found in its:

Accessibility: FacingUs.org is a web-based program that provides tools and inspiration that is accessible when, where, and how individuals need them.

Empowering Content: FacingUs.org puts tools -- like wellness plans, journals, tips, health calendars and more -- into the hands of individuals so that they can become active participants in their own recovery.

Impact on System Change: FacingUs.org offers tools that mental health consumers can use to partner with their clinicians --- tools, such as the Wellness Plan and Wellness Tracker, that move beyond symptom management, incorporating life-goals and overall health as a driving force in treatment.

Ability to Provide Hope and Inspiration: FacingUs.org is a perfect reflection of DBSA's tag line, "We've been there. We can help." which exemplifies the power of peer support. Visitors can find inspiration from individuals like themselves --- video personal stories of recovery, artwork and music --- all from peers, who have shared the same challenging journey.

Acceptance of modern medicine, particularly psychiatric treatment is a huge challenge in a traditional society like Bhutan, where most people prefer traditional forms of treatment. However, traditional treatment is not effective in treating severe mental disorders such as schizophrenia.

To address this problem, an innovative pilot project to introduce modern psychiatry to Bhutan was launched in 2002. As a first step, focus group discussions with community leaders, traditional healers, and health providers modeled on international best practices (including case identification according to ICD 10 diagnostic criteria) helped identify persons with mental illness in the community. This represented the first time that community leaders and traditional healers were involved in case identification. Local health workers followed up on these cases by providing a diagnosis and offering treatment under the supervision of trained psychiatrists. This pilot project was conducted in three distinct geographical regions in Bhutan.

The experiences and knowledge gained during the pilot is presently being expanded to the remaining 17 districts in Bhutan. The successful collaboration between modern health workers and traditional healers will help expand mental health services to the rest of Bhutan in a cost effective way, achieving multiple objectives at the same time:

1. Introduce modern mental health practices in traditional Bhutanese society
2. Mobilize community support to identify and treat severely mentally ill persons
3. Provide a platform for traditional healers and modern health workers to work together
4. Train primary health workers to diagnose and treat mental disorders in the community

For community hospitals and mental health centers that are unable to provide timely inpatient psychiatric services to the severely mentally ill in their communities the envisioned telepsychiatric services offered by Apollo telemedicine has the potential to deliver on site, real time psychiatric consultation through video conferencing. Unlike our current fractured and inefficient system, when it is in place will provide a seamless, integrated continuum of care that will put the community hospital, the inpatient psychiatric treatment center, and the community mental health center under one virtual roof. It will also serve as a model for similar efforts in other telemedicine fields.

Project GREAT is a nationally unique and pioneering Recovery program that employs consumers of mental health services on an academic staff. Certified Peer Specialists Denise Noseworthy and I work full-time alongside psychologists and psychiatrists on the Project GREAT team, providing services in our clinic and hospital; educating residents, students, faculty, and staff; training mental health providers in the community; presenting at regional, national, and international conferences; authoring publications; and coordinating a Behavioral Health Advisory Council of patients and family members.
We propose that our next leap forward will be to deploy WellnessLink, a secure web-based computer interface that will allow psychiatry and psychology outpatients at Medical College of Georgia/MCGHealth Inc. (MCG) to review their own medical records. These records will be readable anywhere with Internet access. Users will also be encouraged to write their own notes in a linked Personal Health Record that will enable secure, immediate sharing with clinicians. A library of consumer-friendly health information will also be accessible via WellnessLink.
To provide on-site convenience at appointment time, as well as accommodation for people without an Internet device, two personal computer stations will be installed in the clinic waiting room, which will be renamed the Resource Room. Trained volunteers will teach individuals how to use WellnessLink and assist anyone who has difficulty with the system.
Consistent with the looming transformation of U.S. healthcare, a natural experiment will determine the impact of these “open psychiatry records.” We will author peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations to disseminate the knowledge gained.

Most interventions for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD’s) are “pathology based” in that they focus on changing the person with the problem. The Peer Mentoring Program takes a different tact, instead focusing on positive changes that can be created in “the people who surround” the person with ASD. Colleges represent a previously untapped source of eager labor: They are often interested in learning more about Autism and are able to provide services in return for course credit in the form of Internships, Practica, or Independent Study. Our program is unique in that it presents a model that may be useful across the country: Tap this eager and bright labor pool to serve as connectors and support people for individuals with ASD’s. Colleges benefit by creating course opportunities that relate to Autism and related problems, including Asperger’s Syndrome, a milder form of Autism. They also gain monetarily, since College students pay for those course credits. This sets up a “win win” situation in which Colleges, College students, and individuals in the community with ASD’s all gain.

With traditional law enforcement training in Minnesota still offering only 0-6 class hours in mental health awareness, our specialized training is invaluable. Police officers need more tools to safely, effectively and respectfully handle a situation involving a person who is struggling with a mental illness.

Thousands of San Francisco residents experience a mental illness each year. A spouse dies, and grief gives way to anxiety. A woman enduring chemotherapy falls into a depression. A teenager hears voices, and he doesn’t know why. But people recover from mental illness, if we have the systems in place to help. That’s what MHA-SF has been committed to since 1947.

MHA-SF and its programs work to cure the system, not just the symptom. We don’t provide the bed for a person who is homeless. We press for the laws that require the city to build low-income, supportive housing. We don’t treat the illness. We guide people to the assistance that’s right for them—and make sure those resources are available. Policy, advocacy, training and research are our tools in bringing about systemic change.

MHA-SF is different. No other San Francisco mental health organization takes our holistic approach to improving the system:

We are the first place many San Francisco residents turn when they realize they need help. Each year we connect hundreds of San Franciscans with the services they need.
We are leading the way on mental health in San Francisco and beyond.
We successfully advocate for laws and funding that will bring people a better quality of life.
Our leadership training programs and volunteer opportunities not only advance the fight for better mental health care, they prepare people for employment.
We encourage people living with mental illness to become advocates themselves, because we believe they must be empowered to pursue their own goals. Together, we direct policy. It means people with mental illness have a voice in their treatment.